The Grammar of English Grammars Part 102

OBS. 1.--The article is a kind of _index_, usually pointing to some noun; and it is a general, if not a universal, principle, that no one noun admits of more than one article. Hence, two or more articles in a sentence are signs of two or more nouns; and hence too, by a very convenient ellipsis, an article before an adjective is often made to relate to a noun understood; as, "_The_ grave [_people_] rebuke _the_ gay [_people_], and _the_ gay [_people_] mock _the_ grave" [_people_].--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 103. "_The_ wise [_persons_] shall inherit glory."--_Prov._, iii, 35.

"_The_ vile [_person_] will talk villainy."--_Coleridge's Lay Sermons_, p.

105: see _Isaiah_, x.x.xii, 6. "The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise _the_ simple" [_ones_].--_Psal._, xix, 7. "_The_ Old [_Testament_] and the New Testament are alike authentic."--"_The_ animal [_world_] and the vegetable world are adapted to each other."--"_An_ epic [_poem_] and a dramatic poem are the same in substance."--_Ld. Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 274. "The neuter verb is conjugated like _the_ active" [_verb_].--_Murray's Gram._, p. 99. "Each section is supposed to contain _a_ heavy [_portion_]

and a light portion; _the_ heavy [_portion_] being the accented syllable, and _the_ light [_portion_] _the_ unaccented" [_syllable_].--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 364.

OBS. 2.--Our language does not, like the French, _require a repet.i.tion_ of the article before every noun in a series; because the same article may serve to limit the signification of several nouns, provided they all stand in the same construction. Hence the following sentence is bad English: "The understanding and language have a strict connexion."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 356. The sense of the former noun only was meant to be limited. The expression therefore should have been, "_Language and the understanding_ have a strict connexion," or, "The understanding _has_ a strict connexion _with language_." In some instances, one article _seems_ to limit the sense of several nouns that are not all in the same construction, thus: "As it proves a greater or smaller obstruction to _the speaker's_ or _writer's aim_."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 200. That is--"to _the_ aim of _the_ speaker or _the_ writer." It is, in fact, the possessive, that limits the other nouns; for, "_a man's foes_" means, "_the_ foes of _a_ man;" and, "_man's wisdom_," means, "_the_ wisdom of man." The governing noun cannot have an article immediately before it. Yet the omission of articles, when it occurs, is not properly _by ellipsis_, as some grammarians declare it to be; for there never can be a proper ellipsis of an article, when there is not also an ellipsis of its noun. Ellipsis supposes the omitted words to be necessary to the construction, when they are not so to the sense; and this, it would seem, cannot be the case with a mere article. If such a sign be in any wise necessary, it ought to be used; and if not needed in any respect, it cannot be said to be _understood_. The definite article being generally required before adjectives that are used by ellipsis as nouns, we in this case repeat it before every term in a series; as, "They are singled out from among their fellows, as _the_ kind, _the_ amiable, _the_ sweet-tempered, _the_ upright."--_Dr. Chalmers_.

"_The_ great, _the_ gay, shall they partake The heav'n that thou alone canst make?"--_Cowper_.

OBS. 3.--The article precedes its noun, and is never, by itself, placed after it; as, "Pa.s.sion is _the_ drunkenness of _the_ mind."--_Southey_.

When an _adjective_ likewise precedes the noun, the article is usually placed before the adjective, that its power of limitation may extend over that also; as, "_A concise_ writer compresses his thoughts into _the fewest_ possible words."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 176.

"_The private_ path, _the secret_ acts of men, If n.o.ble, far _the n.o.blest_ of their lives."--_Young_.

OBS. 4.--The relative position of the article and the adjective is seldom a matter of indifference. Thus, it is good English to say, "_both the men_,"

or, "_the two men_;" but we can by no means say, "_the both men_" or, "_two the men_." Again, the two phrases, "_half a dollar_," and "_a half dollar_," though both good, are by no means equivalent. Of the p.r.o.nominal adjectives, some exclude the article; some precede it; and some follow it, like other adjectives. The word _same_ is seldom, if ever used without the definite article or some stronger definitive before it; as, "On _the same_ day,"--"in _that same_ hour,"--"_These same_ gentlemen." After the adjective _both_, the definite article _may_ be used, but it is generally _unnecessary_, and this is a sufficient reason for omitting it: as, "The following sentences will fully exemplify, to the young grammarian, _both the parts_ of this rule."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 192. Say, "_both parts_." The adjective _few_ may be used either with or without an article, but not with the same import: as, "_The few_ who were present, were in the secret;" i. e., All then present knew the thing. "_Few_ that were present, were in the secret;" i.e., Not many then present knew the thing. "When I say, 'There were _few_ men with him,' I speak diminutively, and mean to represent them as inconsiderable; whereas, when I say, 'There were _a few_ men with him,' I evidently intend to make the most of them."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 171. See Etymology, Articles, Obs. 28.

OBS. 5.--The p.r.o.nominal adjectives which exclude the article, are _any, each, either, every, much, neither, no_, or _none, some, this, that, these, those_. The p.r.o.nominal adjectives which precede the article, are _all, both, many, such_, and _what_; as, "_All the_ world,"--"_Both the_ judges,"--"_Many a_[336] mile,"--"_Such a_ chasm,"--"_What a_ freak." In like manner, any adjective of quality, when its meaning is limited by the adverb _too, so, as_, or _how_, is put before the article; as, "_Too great a_ study of strength, is found to betray writers into a harsh manner."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 179. "Like _many an_ other poor wretch, I now suffer _all the_ ill consequences of _so foolish an_ indulgence." "_Such a_ gift is _too small a_ reward for _so great a_ labour."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 95. "Here flows _as clear a_ stream as any in Greece. _How beautiful a_ prospect is here!"--_Bicknell's Gram._, Part ii, p. 52. The p.r.o.nominal adjectives which follow the article, are _few, former, first, latter, last, little, one, other_, and _same_; as, "An author might lean either to _the one [style]_ or to _the other_, and yet be beautiful."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 179. _Many_, like _few_, sometimes follows the article; as, "_The many_ favours which we have received."--"In conversation, for _many a man_, they say, _a many men_."--_Johnson's Dict._ In this order of the words, _a_ seems awkward and needless; as,

"Told of _a many_ thousand warlike French."--_Shak._

OBS. 6.--When the adjective is preceded by any other adverb than _too, so, as_, or _how_, the article is almost always placed before the adverb: as, "One of _the_ most complete models;"--"_An_ equally important question;"--"_An_ exceedingly rough pa.s.sage;"--"_A_ very important difference." The adverb _quite_, however, may be placed either before or after the article, though perhaps with a difference of construction: as, "This is _quite a_ different thing;"--or, "This is _a quite different_ thing." "Finding it _quite an_ other thing;"--or, "Finding it _a quite other_ thing."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 153. Sometimes _two adverbs_ intervene between the article and the adjective; as, "We had a _rather more_ explicit account of the Novii."--_Philol. Museum_, i, 458. But when an other adverb follows _too, so, as_, or _how_, the three words should be placed either before the article or after the noun; as, "Who stands there in _so purely poetical_ a light."--_Ib._, i, 449. Better, perhaps: "_In a light so purely poetical_."

OBS. 7.--The definitives _this, that_, and some others, though they supersede the article _an_ or _a_, may be followed by the adjective _one_; for we say, "_this one thing_," but not, "_this a thing_." Yet, in the following sentence, _this_ and _a_ being separated by other words, appear to relate to the same noun: "For who is able to judge _this_ thy so great _a_ people?"--_1 Kings_, iii, 9. But we may suppose the noun _people_ to be understood after _this_. Again, the following example, if it is not wrong, has an ellipsis of the word _use_ after the first _a_:

"For highest cordials all their virtue lose, By _a_ too frequent and too bold _a_ use."--_Pomfret_.

OBS. 8.--When the adjective is placed _after_ the noun, the article generally retains its place before the noun, and is not repeated before the adjective: as, "_A_ man _ignorant_ of astronomy;"--"_The_ primrose _pale_."

In _Greek_, when an adjective is placed after its noun, if the article is applied to the noun, it is repeated before the adjective; as, "[Greek: Hae polis hae megalae,]"--"_The_ city _the_ great;" i.e., "The great city." [337]

OBS. 9.--Articles, according to their own definition and nature, come _before_ their nouns; but the definite article and an adjective seem sometimes to be placed after the noun to which they both relate: as, "Section _the Fourth_;"--"Henry _the Eighth_." Such examples, however, may possibly be supposed elliptical; as, "Section, _the fourth division_ of the chapter;"--"Henry, _the eighth king_ of that name:" and, if they are so, the article, in _English_, can never be placed after its noun, nor can two articles ever properly relate to one noun, in any particular construction of it. Priestley observes, "Some writers affect to _transpose_ these words, and place the numeral adjective first; [as,] '_The first Henry_.' Hume's History, Vol. i, p. 497. This construction is common with this writer, but there seems to be a _want of dignity_ in it."--_Rudiments of E. Gram._, p.

150. Dr. Webster cites the word _Great_, in "_Alexander the Great_" as a _name_, or _part_ of a name; that is, he gives it as an instance of "_cognomination_." See his _American Dict._, 8vo. And if this is right, the article may be said to relate to the epithet only, as it appears to do.

For, if the word is taken substantively, there is certainly no ellipsis; neither is there any transposition in putting it last, but rather, as Priestley suggests, in putting it first.

OBS. 10.--The definite article is often prefixed to _comparatives_ and _superlatives_; and its effect is, as Murray observes, (in the words of Lowth,) "to mark the degree _the more_ strongly, and to define it _the more_ precisely: as, '_The more_ I examine it, _the better_ I like it.' 'I like this _the least_ of any.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 33; _Lowth's_, 14.

"For neither if we eat, are we _the better_; neither if we eat not, are we _the worse_."--_1 Cor._, viii, 8. "One is not _the more_ agreeable to me for loving beef, as I do; nor _the less_ agreeable for preferring mutton."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 365. "They are not the men in the nation, _the most_ difficult to be replaced."--_Priestley's Gram._, p.

148. In these instances, the article seems to be used _adverbially_, and to relate only to the _adjective_ or _adverb_ following it. (See observation fourth, on the Etymology of Adverbs.) Yet none of our grammarians have actually reckoned _the_ an adverb. After the _adjective_, the noun might perhaps be supplied; but when the word _the_ is added to an _adverb_, we must either call it an adverb, or make an exception to Rule 1st above: and if an exception is to be made, the brief form which I have given, cannot well be improved. For even if a noun be understood, it may not appear that the article relates to it, rather than to the degree of the quality. Thus: "_The_ deeper the well, _the_ clearer the water." This Dr. Ash supposes to mean, "The deeper _well_ the well _is_, the clearer _water_ the water _is_."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 107. But does the text specify a _particular_ "deeper well" or "clearer water?" I think not. To what then does _the_ refer, but to the proportionate degree of _deeper_ and _clearer_?

OBS. 11.--The article the is sometimes elegantly used, after an idiom common in the French language, in lieu of a possessive p.r.o.noun; as, "He looked him full in _the_ face; i. e. in _his_ face."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 150. "Men who have not bowed _the knee_ to the image of Baal."--_Rom._, xi, 4. That is, _their knees_.

OBS. 12.--The article _an_ or _a_, because it implies unity, is applicable to nouns of the singular number only; yet a collective noun, being singular in form, is sometimes preceded by this article even when it conveys the idea of plurality and takes a plural verb: as, "There _are_ a very great _number_ [of adverbs] ending in _ly_."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 63. "A _plurality_ of them _are_ sometimes felt at the same instant."--_Kames, El.

of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 114. In support of this construction, it would be easy to adduce a great mult.i.tude of examples from the most reputable writers; but still, as it seems not very consistent, to take any word plurally after restricting it to the singular, we ought rather to avoid this if we can, and prefer words that literally agree in number: as, "Of adverbs there _are_ very _many_ ending in _ly_"--"_More than one_ of them _are_ sometimes felt at the same instant." The word _plurality_, like other collective nouns, is literally singular: as, "To produce the latter, a _plurality_ of objects _is_ necessary."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p.

224.

OBS. 13.--Respecting the form of the indefinite article, present practice differs a little from that of our ancient writers. _An_ was formerly used before all words beginning with _h_, and before several other words which are now p.r.o.nounced in such a manner as to require _a_: thus, we read in the Bible, "_An_ help,"--"_an_ house,"--"_an_ hundred,"--"_an_ one,"--"_an_ ewer,"--"_an_ usurer;" whereas we now say, "_A_ help,"--"_a_ house,"--"_a_ hundred,"--"_a_ one,"--"_a_ ewer,"--"_a_ usurer."

OBS. 14.--Before the word _humble_, with its compounds and derivatives, some use _an_, and others, _a_; according to their practice, in this instance, of sounding or suppressing the aspiration. Webster and Jameson sound the _h_, and consequently prefer _a_; as, "But _a humbling_ image is not always necessary to produce that effect."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 205. "O what a blessing is _a humble_ mind!"--_Christian Experience_, p.

342. But Sheridan, Walker, Perry, Jones, and perhaps a majority of fashionable speakers, leave the _h_ silent, and would consequently say, "_An humbling_ image,"--"_an humble_ mind,"--&c.

OBS. 15.--An observance of the principles on which the article is to be repeated or not repeated in a sentence, is of very great moment in respect to accuracy of composition. These principles are briefly stated in the notes below, but it is proper that the learner should know the reasons of the distinctions which are there made. By a repet.i.tion of the article before several adjectives in the same construction, a repet.i.tion of the noun is implied; but without a repet.i.tion of the article, the adjectives, in all fairness of interpretation, are confined to one and the same noun: as, "No figures will render _a cold_ or _an empty_ composition interesting."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 134. Here the author speaks of a cold composition and an empty composition as different things. "_The_ metaphorical and _the_ literal meaning _are_ improperly mixed."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 339. Here the verb are has two nominatives, one of which is expressed, and the other understood. "But _the_ third and _the_ last of these [forms] are seldom used."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 186. Here the verb "_are used_" has two nominatives, both of which are understood; namely, "the third _form_," and "the last _form_." Again: "_The original and present_ signification _is_ always retained."--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of Lang._, Vol. ii, p. 149. Here _one signification_ is characterized as being both original and present. "_A loose and verbose manner_ never _fails_ to create disgust."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 261. That is, _one manner_, loose and verbose. "To give _a_ short and yet clear and plain answer to this proposition."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 533. That is, _one answer, short, clear, and plain_; for the conjunctions in the text connect nothing but the adjectives.

OBS. 16.--To avoid repet.i.tion, even of the little word _the_, we sometimes, with one article, join _inconsistent_ qualities to a _plural noun_;--that is, when the adjectives so differ as to individualize the things, we sometimes make the noun plural, in stead of repeating the article: as, "_The_ north and south _poles_;" in stead of, "_The_ north and _the_ south _pole_."--"_The_ indicative and potential _moods_;" in stead of "_The_ indicative and _the_ potential _mood_."--"_The_ Old and New _Testaments_;"

in stead of, "_The_ Old and _the_ New _Testament_." But, in any such case, to repeat the article when the noun is made plural, is a huge blunder; because it implies a repet.i.tion of the plural noun. And again, not to repeat the article when the noun is singular, is also wrong; because it forces the adjectives to coalesce in describing one and the same thing.

Thus, to say, "_The_ north and south _pole_" is certainly wrong, unless we mean by it, _one pole_, or _slender stick of wood_, pointing north and south; and again, to say, "_The_ north and _the_ south _poles_," is also wrong, unless we mean by it, _several poles at the north_ and _others at the south_. So the phrase, "_The_ Old and New _Testament_" is wrong, because we have not _one Testament that is both Old and New_; and again, "_The_ Old and _the_ New _Testaments_," is wrong, because we have not several _Old Testaments and several New ones_: at least we have them not in the Bible.

OBS. 17.--Sometimes a noun that _admits no article_, is preceded by adjectives that do not describe the same thing; as, "Never to jumble _metaphorical and plain language_ together."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 146. This means, "_metaphorical language_ and _plain language_;" and, for the sake of perfect clearness, it would perhaps be better to express it so. "For as _intrinsic and relative beauty_ must often be blended in the same building, it becomes a difficult task to attain _both_ in any perfection."--_Karnes, El. of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 330. That is, "_intrinsic beauty_ and _relative beauty_" must often be blended; and this phraseology would be better. "In correspondence to that distinction of _male and female s.e.x_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 74. This may be expressed as well or better, in half a dozen other ways; for the article may be added, or the noun may be made plural, with or without the article, and before or after the adjectives. "They make no distinction between causes of civil and criminal jurisdiction."-- _Adams's Rhet._, Vol. i, p. 302. This means--"between causes of civil and _causes_ of criminal jurisdiction;" and, for the sake of perspicuity, it ought to have been so written,--or, still better, _thus_: "They make no distinction between civil causes and criminal."

NOTES TO RULE I.

NOTE I.--When the indefinite article is required, _a_ should always be used before the sound of a consonant, and _an_, before that of a vowel; as, "With the talents of _an_ angel, a man may be _a_ fool."--_Young_.

NOTE II.--The article _an_ or _a_ must never be so used as to relate, or even seem to relate, to a plural noun. The following sentence is therefore faulty: "I invited her to spend a day in viewing _a seat and gardens._"--_Rambler_, No. 34. Say, "a seat and _its_ gardens."

NOTE III.--When nouns are joined in construction, with different adjuncts, different dependence, or positive contrast, the article, if it belong at all to the latter, must be repeated. The following sentence is therefore inaccurate: "She never considered the quality, but merit of her visitors."--_Wm. Penn_. Say, "_the_ merit." So the article in brackets is absolutely necessary to the sense and propriety of the following phrase, though not inserted by the learned author: "The Latin introduced between the Conquest and [_the_] reign of Henry the Eighth."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, p. 42.

NOTE IV.--When adjectives are connected, and the qualities belong to things individually different, though of the same name, the article should be repeated: as, "_A_ black and _a_ white horse;"--i. e., _two horses_, one black and the other white. "_The_ north and _the_ south line;"--i. e., _two lines_, running east and west.

NOTE V.--When adjectives are connected, and the qualities all belong to the same thing or things, the article should not be repeated: as, "_A_ black and white horse;"--i. e., _one_ horse, _piebald_. "_The_ north and south line;"--i. e., _one line_, running north and south, like a meridian. NOTE VI.--When two or more individual things of the same name are distinguished by adjectives that cannot unite to describe the same thing, the article must be added to each if the noun be singular, and to the first only if the noun follow them in the plural: as, "_The_ nominative and _the_ objective _case_;" or, "_The_ nominative and objective _cases_."--"_The_ third, _the_ fifth, _the_ seventh, and _the_ eighth _chapter_;" or, "_The_ third, fifth, seventh, and eighth _chapters_." [338]

NOTE VII.--When two phrases of the same sentence have any special correspondence with each other, the article, if used in the former, is in general required also in the latter: as, "For ye know neither _the_ day nor _the_ hour."--_Matt._, xxv, 13. "Neither _the_ cold nor _the_ fervid are formed for friendship."--_Murray's Key_, p. 209. "The vail of the temple was rent in twain, from _the_ top to _the_ bottom."--_Matt._, xxvii, 51.

NOTE VIII.--When a special correspondence is formed between individual epithets, the noun which follows must not be made plural; because the article, in such a case, cannot be repeated as the construction of correspondents requires. Thus, it is improper to say, "Both _the_ first and second _editions_" or, "Both _the_ first and _the_ second _editions_" for the accurate phrase, "Both _the_ first and _the_ second _edition_;" and still worse to say, "Neither _the_ Old nor New _Testaments_" or, "Neither _the_ Old nor _the_ New _Testaments_" for the just expression, "Neither _the_ Old nor _the_ New _Testament_." Yet we may say, "Neither _the old_ nor _the new statutes_" or, "Both _the early_ and _the late editions_;" for here the epithets severally apply to more than one thing.

NOTE IX.--In a series of three or more terms, if the article is used with any, it should in general be added either to every one, or else to the first only. The following phrase is therefore inaccurate: "Through their attention to the helm, the sails, or rigging."--_Brown's Estimate_, Vol. i, p. 11. Say, "_the_ rigging."

NOTE X.--As the article _an_ or _a_ denotes "_one thing of a kind_," it should not be used as we use _the_, to denote emphatically a _whole kind_; and again, when the species is said to be _of the genus_, no article should be used to limit the latter. Thus some will say, "_A jay_ is a sort of _a bird_;" whereas they ought to say, "_The jay_ is a sort _of bird_." Because it is absurd to suggest, that _one jay_ is _a sort_ of _one bird_. Yet we may say, "_The jay_ is _a bird_," or, "_A jay_ is _a bird_;" because, as every species is one under the genus, so every individual is one under both.

NOTE XI.--The article should not be used before the names of virtues, vices, pa.s.sions, arts, or sciences, in their general sense; before terms that are strictly limited by other definitives; or before any noun whose signification is sufficiently definite without it: as, "_Falsehood_ is odious."--"_Iron_ is useful."--"_Beauty_ is vain."--"_Admiration_ is useless, when it is not supported by _domestic worth_"--_Webster's Essays_, p. 30.

NOTE XII.--When t.i.tles are mentioned merely as t.i.tles; or names of things, merely as names or words; the article should not be used before them: as, "He is styled _Marquis_;" not, "_the_ Marquis," or, "_a_ Marquis,"--"Ought a teacher to call his pupil _Master_?"--"_Thames_ is derived from the Latin name _Tam~esis_."

NOTE XIII.--When a comparison or an alternative is made with two nouns, if both of them refer to the same subject, the article should not be inserted before the latter; if to different subjects, it should not be omitted: thus, if we say, "He is a better teacher than poet," we compare different qualifications of the same man; but if we say, "He is a better teacher than _a_ poet," we speak of different men, in regard to the same qualification.

NOTE XIV.--The definite article, or some other definitive, (as _this, that, these, those_,) is generally required before the antecedent to the p.r.o.noun _who_ or _which_ in a restrictive clause; as, "All _the men who_ were present, agreed to it."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 145. "The _thoughts which_ pa.s.sion suggests are always plain and obvious ones."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.

468. "The _things which_ are impossible with men, are possible with G.o.d."--_Luke_, xviii, 27. See Etymology, Chap. V, Obs. 26th, &c., on Cla.s.ses of p.r.o.nouns.

NOTE XV.--The article is generally required in that construction which converts a participle into a verbal or participial noun; as, "_The completing of_ this, by _the working-out of_ sin inherent, must be by the power and spirit of Christ in the heart."--_Wm. Penn_. "They shall be _an abhorring_ unto all flesh."--_Isaiah_, lxvi, 24. "For _the dedicating of_ the altar."--_Numb._, vii, 11.

NOTE XVI.--The article should not be added to any participle that is not taken in all other respects as a noun; as, "For _the_ dedicating the altar."--"He made a mistake in _the_ giving out the text." Expunge _the_, and let _dedicating_ and _giving_ here stand as participles only; for in the construction of nouns, they must have not only a definitive before them, but the preposition _of_ after them.

NOTE XVII.--The false syntax of articles properly includes every pa.s.sage in which there is any faulty insertion, omission, choice, or position, of this part of speech. For example: "When the verb is _a_ pa.s.sive, the agent and object change places."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 73. Better: "When the verb is _pa.s.sive_, the agent and _the_ object change places." "Comparisons used by the sacred poets, are generally short."--_Russell's Gram._, p. 87. Better: "_The_ comparisons," &c. "p.r.o.noun means _for noun_, and _is used_ to _avoid the_ too frequent repet.i.tion of _the_ noun."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 89.

Say rather: "_The_ p.r.o.noun _is put_ for _a_ noun, and is used to _prevent_ too frequent a repet.i.tion of the noun." Or: "_The word_ p.r.o.nOUN means _for noun_; and _a p.r.o.noun_ is used to prevent too frequent a repet.i.tion of _some_ noun."

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION. FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE I.

[Fist][The examples of False Syntax placed under the rules and notes, are to be corrected _orally_ by the pupil, according to the formules given, or according to others framed in like manner, and adapted to the several notes.]